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3 [a]I am the man who has seen afflictionby the rod of the Lord’s wrath.2 He has driven me away and made me walkin darkness rather than light;3 indeed, he has turned his hand against meagain and again, all day long.

4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow oldand has broken my bones.5 He has besieged me and surrounded mewith bitterness and hardship.6 He has made me dwell in darknesslike those long dead.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;he has weighed me down with chains.8 Even when I call out or cry for help,he shuts out my prayer.9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;he has made my paths crooked.

10 Like a bear lying in wait,like a lion in hiding,11 he dragged me from the path and mangled meand left me without help.12 He drew his bowand made me the target for his arrows.

13 He pierced my heartwith arrows from his quiver.14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;they mock me in song all day long.15 He has filled me with bitter herbsand given me gall to drink.

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;he has trampled me in the dust.17 I have been deprived of peace;I have forgotten what prosperity is.18 So I say, “My splendor is goneand all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,the bitterness and the gall.20 I well remember them,and my soul is downcast within me.21 Yet this I call to mindand therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail.23 They are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,to the one who seeks him;26 it is good to wait quietlyfor the salvation of the Lord.27 It is good for a man to bear the yokewhile he is young.

28 Let him sit alone in silence,for the Lord has laid it on him.29 Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope.30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,and let him be filled with disgrace.

31 For no one is cast offby the Lord forever.32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,so great is his unfailing love.33 For he does not willingly bring afflictionor grief to anyone.

34 To crush underfootall prisoners in the land,35 to deny people their rightsbefore the Most High,36 to deprive them of justice—would not the Lord see such things?

37 Who can speak and have it happenif the Lord has not decreed it?38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most Highthat both calamities and good things come?39 Why should the living complainwhen punished for their sins?

40 Let us examine our ways and test them,and let us return to the Lord.41 Let us lift up our hearts and our handsto God in heaven, and say:42 “We have sinned and rebelledand you have not forgiven.

43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;you have slain without pity.44 You have covered yourself with a cloudso that no prayer can get through.45 You have made us scum and refuseamong the nations.

46 “All our enemies have opened their mouthswide against us.47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,ruin and destruction.”48 Streams of tears flow from my eyesbecause my people are destroyed.

49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,without relief,50 until the Lord looks downfrom heaven and sees.51 What I see brings grief to my soulbecause of all the women of my city.

52 Those who were my enemies without causehunted me like a bird.53 They tried to end my life in a pitand threw stones at me;54 the waters closed over my head,and I thought I was about to perish.

55 I called on your name, Lord,from the depths of the pit.56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your earsto my cry for relief.”57 You came near when I called you,and you said, “Do not fear.”

58 You, Lord, took up my case;you redeemed my life.59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.Uphold my cause!60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,all their plots against me.

61 Lord, you have heard their insults,all their plots against me—62 what my enemies whisper and mutteragainst me all day long.63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,they mock me in their songs.

64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,for what their hands have done.65 Put a veil over their hearts,and may your curse be on them!66 Pursue them in anger and destroy themfrom under the heavens of the Lord.

4 [b]How the gold has lost its luster,the fine gold become dull!The sacred gems are scatteredat every street corner.

2 How the precious children of Zion,once worth their weight in gold,are now considered as pots of clay,the work of a potter’s hands!

3 Even jackals offer their breaststo nurse their young,but my people have become heartlesslike ostriches in the desert.

4 Because of thirst the infant’s tonguesticks to the roof of its mouth;the children beg for bread,but no one gives it to them.

5 Those who once ate delicaciesare destitute in the streets.Those brought up in royal purplenow lie on ash heaps.

6 The punishment of my peopleis greater than that of Sodom,which was overthrown in a momentwithout a hand turned to help her.

7 Their princes were brighter than snowand whiter than milk,their bodies more ruddy than rubies,their appearance like lapis lazuli.

8 But now they are blacker than soot;they are not recognized in the streets.Their skin has shriveled on their bones;it has become as dry as a stick.

9 Those killed by the sword are better offthan those who die of famine;racked with hunger, they waste awayfor lack of food from the field.

10 With their own hands compassionate womenhave cooked their own children,who became their foodwhen my people were destroyed.

11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;he has poured out his fierce anger.He kindled a fire in Zionthat consumed her foundations.

12 The kings of the earth did not believe,nor did any of the peoples of the world,that enemies and foes could enterthe gates of Jerusalem.

13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophetsand the iniquities of her priests,who shed within herthe blood of the righteous.

14 Now they grope through the streetsas if they were blind.They are so defiled with bloodthat no one dares to touch their garments.

15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”When they flee and wander about,people among the nations say,“They can stay here no longer.”

16 The Lord himself has scattered them;he no longer watches over them.The priests are shown no honor,the elders no favor.

17 Moreover, our eyes failed,looking in vain for help;from our towers we watchedfor a nation that could not save us.

18 People stalked us at every step,so we could not walk in our streets.Our end was near, our days were numbered,for our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were swifterthan eagles in the sky;they chased us over the mountainsand lay in wait for us in the desert.

20 The Lord’s anointed, our very life breath,was caught in their traps.We thought that under his shadowwe would live among the nations.

21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,you who live in the land of Uz.But to you also the cup will be passed;you will be drunk and stripped naked.

5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;look, and see our disgrace.2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,our homes to foreigners.3 We have become fatherless,our mothers are widows.4 We must buy the water we drink;our wood can be had only at a price.5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;we are weary and find no rest.6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyriato get enough bread.7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more,and we bear their punishment.8 Slaves rule over us,and there is no one to free us from their hands.9 We get our bread at the risk of our livesbecause of the sword in the desert.10 Our skin is hot as an oven,feverish from hunger.11 Women have been violated in Zion,and virgins in the towns of Judah.12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;elders are shown no respect.13 Young men toil at the millstones;boys stagger under loads of wood.14 The elders are gone from the city gate;the young men have stopped their music.15 Joy is gone from our hearts;our dancing has turned to mourning.16 The crown has fallen from our head.Woe to us, for we have sinned!17 Because of this our hearts are faint,because of these things our eyes grow dim18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,with jackals prowling over it.

19 You, Lord, reign forever;your throne endures from generation to generation.20 Why do you always forget us?Why do you forsake us so long?21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;renew our days as of old22 unless you have utterly rejected usand are angry with us beyond measure.

Footnotes:

Lamentations 3:1This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.

Lamentations 4:1This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

A Call to Persevere in Faith

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[b]31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.37 For,

“In just a little while,he who is coming will comeand will not delay.”[c]

38 And,

“But my righteous[d] one will live by faith.And I take no pleasurein the one who shrinks back.”[e]

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.